


Pink Blood

by Skaapsteker



Category: Cells At Work! | はたらく細胞
Genre: Gen, spoilers for volumes 2 and 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 13:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11784096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skaapsteker/pseuds/Skaapsteker
Summary: A white blood cell and a red blood cell have a short break together.





	Pink Blood

While on the carbon dioxide circuit, red blood cells would usually pop into a cellular cafe for some coffee or a quick, preferably sugary snack. Carrying oxygen parcels wasn't as hard as it sounded - it was what they were literally made to do, after all, their sole biological purpose - but running endless circuits around the body left most in need of a little refreshment. Especially the younger ones, who had only recently left the bone marrow.  
AE 3803 was no exception to this trend. On her CO2-delivering jog, she stopped at a cafe, quickly grabbing a lollipop. It was red, the same shade of her hair and her delivery-making jacket. (Although a lollipop the current dark red hue of her jacket didn’t sound too shabby, either.)  
She found a bench to sit down on, and was halfway through the snack when a small commotion started nearby. Red blood cells scrambled out of the way, clearing the path for a white blood cell, specifically a neutrophil - or should that be a very specific neutrophil?  
_Huh, our paths sure have been crossing a lot lately…_  
White Blood Cell U-1146 strode to the cafe she’d gotten her lollipop from and ordered a coffee. He watched as his order was made, and when he finally turned around, steaming cup in hand, AE 3803 decided to indulge fate and waved him over.  
“Hi,” she said as he sat down next to her.  
“Hello,” he replied, taking a long sip from his cup. As usual, his clothes were practically drenched in cytoplasm.  
“I was wondering,” he continued, “how have your deliveries been going?”  
“They were pretty easy, actually! I didn’t get lost or have to ask for directions even once.”  
“That’s great.” He took another sip. “You know, some immune cells have troubles with their jobs when they’re younger, too. I’ve heard that with T cells in particular, only about two or three percent of them get to graduate from the thymus. So you shouldn’t feel too bad about initially being awkward.”  
“Were you one of those kids, too?” Somehow, imagining U-1146 performing his duty as anything but an efficient, ruthless warrior was… pretty difficult, to say the least.  
“Actually, no. I was always good at fighting pathogens. Once I got over the little bit of childish fear I held, I never even hesitated at the thought.”  
“Oh.”  
Then she remembered another question she had about his childhood - well, if her hunch was correct, both of their childhoods really. Of course, there was only a very small chance that he was the same boy, but it was still worth a shot.  
“White Blood Cell, when you were little, did you by any chance try to save a little red blood cell girl from a bacterium? We were having a lesson about germs one day and our instructor was pretending to be a bacterium, but then a real bacterium showed up. I was so scared, but a little white blood cell boy tried to protect me before an adult white blood cell showed up and saved us. And I just want to know… were you that boy?”  
U-1146 looked at her, then into his (now quarter-full) cup of coffee, then back at her.  
“Yes, I do remember that.” he said slowly, and AE 3803’s vacuoles leaped for joy. “That was the day I first came face-to-face with fear, and also the day I really became determined to become a successful immune cell.”  
“It really is you,” she said, now fully convinced in the existence of luck.  
“And it really is you,” he said, not convinced of anything other than unlikely coincidences.  
They were contemplating this revelation when an unmistakeable sound rang out - the _ding_ of a white blood cell’s receptor popping up from their hat. In a burst of speed, U-1146 set down his emptied cup, got up, and dashed down the vein. She waved him a quick goodbye, but wasn’t sure if he saw.  
“So it _is_ him…” AE mused, finishing her lollipop. Just in time, too; she needed to drop off some CO2 and there was an oxygen package with her name on it.  
She took off for the lungs, reaching them without any trouble (besides accidentally bumping into someone, but that wasn’t trouble on the same level as a random pathogen attack or getting utterly lost). She received her package with directives to the left pectoral muscle, and, as was regulation, took off her jacket and turned it inside-out to expose the bright red side.  
As she ran to her destination, keeping pace with one of the newcomer red blood cells (one of those who had inexplicably come from the sky), she thought about how lucky she was to meet her childhood attempted saviour again. Not just met, but befriended him. All without knowing they were the same person - up until now, that is.  
But then again, when you're talking about a human body, everything’s connected, is it not?

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT 08/25/18: Thank you for all of the kind words, everybody!


End file.
